Peterborough house price growth outstripping national average

House price growth in Britain’s new towns, like Peterborough, has outperformed the national average over the past decade, a report has found.

Milton Keynes, which is celebrating its 50th birthday, was identified as the best-performing new town for property price growth over the past 30 years but is closely followed by Northampton and Peterborough.

New towns generally have seen house prices increase by nearly a third (32%) over the past 10 years, increasing by just over £55,500, from £173,337 in 2006 to £ 228,902 in 2016.

House prices across Britain generally have increased by just over a quarter (26%) over the past 10 years, from £200,059 to £251,679 - an increase of around £51,600.

Halifax said that since 1986, property prices in Peterborough have surged by 477% to reach £200,589 on average, making the Top 10 of Britain’s top-performing new towns over the past three decades.

New towns were created in waves after the Second World War, generally emerging between the 1940s and 1960s and helping to alleviate housing shortages following the war.

Martin Ellis, a housing economist at Halifax, said: “Milton Keynes has been the best-performing of all the new towns created following the Second World War in terms of house price performance since 1986.

“Many of these new towns are within easy commuting distance of major commercial centres, where property is typically more expensive, particularly in the South East, where the average property price is well below that in London. This makes them a highly popular choice with home buyers, explaining their relatively good house price performance, and this popularity has been particularly notable during the last decade.”

Here is how average house prices across Britain’s new towns have increased between 1986 and 2016, according to Halifax, with the average house price in 2016 followed by the percentage increase: